The Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque is located on the eastern side of the historical Naqsh-e Jahan Square. Shah Abbas I of the Safavid Dynasty ordered the construction of this mosque in 1602 and was completed in 1619 and he named it after a clergyman of Lebanese nationality called Sheikh Lotfollah.

He was one of the biggest clergymen during the Safavid Dynasty (1501-1736) who moved to Iran following his invitation by Shah Abbas to be supported in Shiite faith. Sheikh was later had the honor of supervising the royal Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque and praying there as an Imam that was used both as a mosque and harem for the king.

From an architectural viewpoint, the mosque is quite simple; however, it is decorated with majestic tile working. The mosque has no four-Iwan plan (while this plan was common during the Safavid Dynasty), vaulted gallery, courtyard, and more importantly, no minaret as one of the essential parts of the Islamic mosques. This is because the mosque was built as a private mosque for the king, leading to the deletion of some essential parts of public mosques.

The whole mosque’s area accounts for 1,324 square meters and its dome is 32 meters in height and 12 meters in diameter. The mosque has a praying hall with 16 lattice windows on the top of the walls through which rays of the sun in the forms of the lattices emit inside the hall. The interwoven patterns of lights and shadows are among the attractions of this hall added to its beautiful tile works.

This praying hall located under the dome of the mosque is accessible through a corridor that starts from the portal entrance of the structure. The corridor has two lattice windows to provide enough light. The walls and dados of the mosque are decorated with mosaic tiles and enameled bricks that consist of arabesques and floral designs. The Mihrab of the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque is a kind of high niche Mihrab has a portal decorated with Muqarnas (a kind of Islamic vaulted decorations particularly for entrance portals) and tilework.

One of the unique features of this mosque refers to its 45-degree rotation on the north-south axis through an entrance corridor in order to adjust the direction of the mosque towards the kiblah. The architect of the mosque was Mohammad Reza Isfahani and its inscriptions were made by calligrapher Alireza Abbasi with white tiles on a blue background.

He is in fact the most famous calligrapher during the reign of Shah Abbas but Bagher Banna was another famous calligrapher of the time, who contributed significantly to the inscriptions of this mosque as well.

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The Royal mosque is the masterpieces of architecture, tilework and carpentry, and was built in the seventeenth century. It is situated on the south side of Naghsh-e Jahan square and opposite the Qeysarieh portal entrance. Its construction coincided with the 24^th year of reign of Shah Abbas, in 1611 and took eighteen years to be complete. The great master of tile working Ali Akbar Isfahani finished the mosque in the last year of Shah Abbas reign, however, the decoration of the mosque completed after his death.

There are some stories about the construction of this Mosque, the most famous of which is that Shah Abbas was in a hurry and ordered the construction of mosque to finish quickly. However, the architect rejected Shah’s order and went into hiding. The Angered king ordered search parties to find the architect. However, no matter how much they tried, they could not find the architect. Years passed, the mosque was left unfinished, and no one could understand the complexity of his work, but suddenly the architect returned. He appeared in front of the king and explained that the mosque needed to be left for a time to subside but since he knew the king’s haste, he had to run away. The king understood his reasoning and pardoned him.

It is situated on the south side of Naghsh-e Jahan square and opposite the Qeysarieh portal entrance. Its construction coincided with the 24^th year of reign of Shah Abbas, in 1611 and took eighteen years to be complete.

The whole mosque is covered with a style of tiling known as seven-colored tiles. The royal mosque is based on four-iwan plan with the southern iwan being 33 m high with two flanking minarets that each are 48 meters. Southern iwan is usually the most lavishly decorated part of Iranian mosque and leads to the main Mihrab. The dome stands on southern iwan and is decorated by blue tiles and white calligraphy. The dome is 52 m high with a diameter of 21 m. It is the largest double cased dome of Isfahan, the space of the two layers of dome is about 13 meter and has the function of a traditional echo system. The Royal Mosque Also has two symmetrical prayer halls that are located on the southwest and southeast and two schools at eastern and western sides, which are named Naseri and Soleimaniyeh.

The portal entrance is designed with muqarnas and flanking arcades, with two minarets that are each 42-meter. The mosque entrance faces north, because the shape of Naqsh-e Jahan Square required such angle, but to get the direction to match the Kiblah two corridors were built that caused a detour around the north iwan through and lead to courtyard. The simple architectural trick both solved the problem of Kiblah and also added to the beauty of Mosque. The magnificent Mosque was used by the royal family and befitted their station; it is one of the most beautiful examples of Safavid architecture and decoration.

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Photo by Mahmoodreza Mohajerani via Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

While Isfahan’s Chehel Sotoun Palace is more famous, Qazvin’s Chehel Sotoun pavilion was built first, referring to the time when Shah Tahmasp transferred the capital from Tabriz to Qazvin due to the fear of Ottomans’ attacks. On his command, the lands in an area called Zangi Abbad were purchased from Mirza Sharaf Jahan who was one of the respected tradesmen of the city. He then invited several master architects to build what we know today as Safavid Complex. It comprised a series of constructs including a couple of palaces, a garden, and a square. This square later turned into an architectural model for the construction of Naghsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan.

One of the remained constructs of the complex in Qazvin is an edifice that was entitled later Chehel Sotoun during the Qajar Dynasty (1789-1925). It was built amid a large garden in a central square of the old city. It is worth mentioning that the whole construct has a cross-like and extroverted plan and this plan made archeologists call it a pavilion rather than a palace. It has been argued that if it was a palace, its architecture should have followed an introverted plan.

Photo by Parisa Tondaki

This pavilion is in the shape of an octagonal structure in two stories comprising several pools, iwans, and halls that were beautifully adorned with tiles, stucco, and frescos. Furthermore, the ground floor includes brick columns and semicircular arches, while the first floor has an iwan (porch) with wooden pillars and colored reticulated wooden windows. Notably, Chehel Sotoun edifice is famous for its fresco miniature paintings (art of the Qazvin school), where there are three historical periods of paintings each covered by the next.

The first layer of the painting refers to the early Safavid Dynasty (1501-1736) when Shah Tahmasp chose Qazvin as the country’s capital and ordered the construction of this palace. However, not much could be seen of this layer and its theme of painting could not be identified since today it is the deepest layer beneath the other two successive layers. The second layer belongs to the late Safavid Dynasty showing scenes of hunting and celebration. The last layer was painted when Qajars were on the throne but its paintings have been lost over time. In general, the paintings were inspired by the most important events of the time including the advent and ruling of kings, their battles, victories, and defeats.

All doors of the palace are inlaid woodwork decorated with paintings, tiling, and gilding. However, decorations’ colors and more broadly the structure has been faded and deteriorated in the course of time, like the floor’s bricks that have been replaced with new ones. The pavilion has been turned into a calligraphy museum in recent years displaying some of the valuable artworks (e.g., calligraphy, and old books) of the country.

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Chehel Sotoun meaning “forty columns” in Farsi is the name of a palace that its construction was started during the reign of Shah Abbas I but his successor Shah Abbas II completed during the Safavid Dynasty (1501-1736). According to an inscription in the form of plasterwork on the southern side of the garden, the palace was introduced as a prosperous building of the world, which its construction was finished in the fifth year of the Shah Abbas II’s reign.

Its name is attributed to the palace’s 20 wooden columns such that considering their reflections in a large pool in front of the building, one can see an overall number of 40 columns. Besides, the name is attributed to an old belief originating from holy books and literature that 40 is a holy number. The palace is located in a rectangular garden (275 x 225 meters) with an area of about 67,000 m2, inspired architecturally by the plan of Persian Gardens.

Like other Persian gardens, it comprises a fence, pool, flowers and trees, and a remarkable pavilion in the center of the garden. The pool used to be watered from Fadan Madi, a wide stream that stemmed from Zayandeh Rood River and watered different areas of Isfahan. The garden’s most common plants include pines, elm, black maple, sycamore, juniper, and different types of seasonal flowers.

When the capital city was transformed from Qazvin to Isfahan, the city expanded gradually southward and the Naghsh-e Jahan Square along Chahar Bagh Street turned into the city center. Notably, Sheikh Bahaie, a scholar, mathematician, and astronomer of the 16th and 17th centuries, was the architect of many structures in this part of the city.

The Chehel Sotoun Palace consists of a large Iwan (porch), decorated with mirror works and Persian miniature, which is 38, 17, and 14 meters long,  wide, and tall, respectively. This Iwan has a wooden roof that 20 wooden columns carry its weight. Of the columns, four central ones around a small pool have stone lions at their base. However, the four stone lions and other stone statues placed around the central pool have been brought from two other constructs outside the complex titled Ayeneh Khane (Mirror House) and Sar Pooshideh Hall.

Furthermore, there are other portable stones in the garden of Chehel Sotpun Palace (e.g., the eastern and southern walls of the garden) that originally belong to other historical monuments such as Ghotbieh Mosque, Joobareh Mosque, and Aghasi Mosque.

The most striking decorations in the main hall (Throne Hall) of the palace refers to beautiful frescos and paintings in Persian miniature style with different themes. The paintings and frescos display important royal events like the reception of Mohammad khan the ruler of Turkestan, Shah Ismail I in Chaldoran war against the Ottoman Sultan Selim I, the reception of Humayun the Indian king by Shah Tahmasp, Shah Ismail in Marv war, the reception of Nader Mohammad khan the ruler of Turkestan by Shah Abbas II, and Nader Shah’s victory against the Indian Army in the Battle of Karnal.

At the time of Shah Sultan Hossein, the last king of the Safavid Dynasty, some parts of the palace were fired but repaired soon following the King’s order. During the Qajar Dynasty (1789-1925), Zel Ol Sultan, the ruler of Isfahan and Naser Al-Din Shah’s son, ordered a series of changes in the place such as the destruction of the valuable mirror works and hiding the walls’ frescoes with plaster.

The palace is open to the public through the oldest gate on the east side. After crossing the portal entrance and a big pool, visitors reach the main pavilion in the middle of the garden. Visitors can also visit the main hall of the palace where there is a museum to exhibit historical objects belonging to different periods and different parts of Iran. In 2011, the Chehel Sotoun palace was registered as a UNESCO Heritage Site and also as a Persian garden.

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Naqsh-e Jahan Square was laid out in 1602 CE under the reign of Shah Abbas I (1588 – 1699 CE), the fifth ruler of the Safavid in a vast garden with the same name.

At 160 meters wide and 560 meters long, Naqsh-e Jahan is one of the largest historic squares in the world surrounded by several prominent buildings. Ali Qapu Palace on the west side, The Shah Mosque on the south, Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque on the eastern side, and Qeysarieh Grand Bazaar Gate at the north augments the glory of the square.

Plan of Naqsh e Jahan Square – Persia Advisor Travels
by Negar Ganji

Two hundred identical shops are open to the square on one side and to a bazaar behind that has surrounded the square. These shops generally sell local handicrafts and artworks. As Isfahan was a key spot along the Silk Road, goods from all the civilized nations of the world found their ways to the hands of expert merchants who knew how to make the best profits out of them.

Naqsh-e Jahan Square was the Safavid’s capital of culture, economy, religion, social power, government, and politics.

The Square was an arena for public ceremonies, festivities like Nowruz and military maneuvers besides sports like polo, the favorite sport of Safavid kings.

Gates of polo still remain in the two sides of the square. In the mid-seventeenth century, famous French travel writer Jean Chardin cherished Isfahan as, “the grandest and the most beautiful town in the whole of the east.”

To nicely sense the magnificence of Square, you should visit it in the late afternoon when the blue-tiled minarets and domes are lit up by the sunset rays, and local families have populated the square.

Ali Qapu

This grand palace is located on the western side of the Naqsh-e Jahan Square, opposite to Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque. The name Ali Qapu is derived from Persian Ali (meaning great) and Azerbaijani Qapu (meaning gate). At the time of Shah Abbas I, this palace was built mainly to entertain noble visitors and foreign ambassadors.

The forty-eight meters building consists of six floors is rich in naturalistic wall paintings by Reza Abbasi, famous Safavid painter, and his pupils. The ground floor consists of two halls for administrative affairs. The two spiral staircases in the corners of building continue to the sixth floor.

Its impressive elevated terrace featuring 18 slender wood pillars was built at the time of Shah Abbas II that provides a dominating and breathtaking perspective over the Square. A marble pool located in the middle of the terrace has its symmetry on the ceiling. The sixth floor is the most majestic place of Ali Qapu. The music hall is the largest room of the palace and its stunning stucco decoration having not only aesthetic value but also acoustic. The terrace was a great place for giving banquets to special guests while impressing them with live music performances.

Shah Mosque

The construction of this masterpiece of Persian architecture began in 1611 by order of Shah Abbas I and completed in 1629, at the last year of his reign. Although the portal was built to face the square, the mosque is oriented towards Mecca. This rotation took place through an angled corridor through which visitors encounter the main portal without realizing the change in the orientation.

The Mosque is surrounded with four iwans that is a rectangular hall surrounded by walls on three sides with one end entirely open. The main idea of iwan dates back to ancient Iran and hence the Shah Mosque holds a combination of the Persian and Islamic identity. The Mosque consists of the main yard, four iwans, a dome, a shabestan, two portal, two 48 meters minarets, and two religious schools.

The double-shelled 53 meters high dome with 14 meters spanning between the two layers is the most beautiful part of the mosque. The in-between span causes a loud echo when one makes a sound standing at the center of the dome. This habit has become an enjoyable activity for some of visitors. Seven-color tiles ornament the tomb with an inscription in Thuluth calligraphy. Inscriptions of Shah Mosque were mostly taken place by Alireza Abbasi, Mohammad Reza Emami, and Abdol-Baghi Tabrizi the best calligraphers of the country.

Suggested by Sheikh Bahayi two Madrasas (religious school) were erected in two sides of the Mosque in the time of Shah Suleiman I the eighth Safavid king.

Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque

Standing on the eastern side of Naghshe Jahan, Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque is the gem of the square with its mesmerizing cream color dome changed to pink in the sunset. The mosque was completed in 1619 and Shah Abbas I dedicated it to his father-in-law, Sheikh Lotfollah who was a Lebanese Shia scholar.

The function of minarets in Islam is to invite people to Namaz (prayer). However, as Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque was a private royal mosque, devised for the ladies of Safavid harem, it had neither a minaret nor a courtyard. Consequently, its size was smaller than Shah Mosque that was built for the public.

Similar to Shah Mosque, the main entrance of the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque is not in the direction of Qibla. Therefore, a twisting hallway (Pashneh) connects it to another entrance opens to the prayers’ chamber in Qibla direction.

Although this Mosque is much smaller than the Shah Mosque and has no iwans and yards, its intricate arabesque-patterned exterior and interior decorations and the finest construction materials are superior to the Shah Mosque. The portal contains detailed muqarnas that is stalactite-type stone carving used to decorate doorways.

The golden mosaics inside the dome mirror an extraordinary beauty. The peacock at the center of the tomb is a feature of this mosque and sunrays create a golden tail changed in the size and direction based on the sun position for the peacock.

Names of the twelve Shia Imams are stated around the Mihrab, and the surrounding inscription contains the names of Sheikh Lotfollah, Mohammad Reza Isfahani the architect, and Baqer Bana the calligrapher.

Qeysarieh Gate

Qeysarieh Bazaar was the most notable market in the Safavid era connected to the Atiq or Old Square that was the center of Isfahan during the reign of Seljuk dynasty. Built in 1620 CE, Qeysariyeh Gate is the entrance of Bazar located in the north of the Naqsh-e Jahan Square. The tiled symbol of Isfahan is seen above the portal that is similar to Sagittarius with human head, a body of tiger and dragon tail. Paintings on the portal drawn by Reza Abbasi show the hunting scene of Shah Abbas I on the left, his war with Uzbeks in the middle, and figures of European guests on the right.

Naqsh-e Jahan Square was globally registered in 1979.

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The history of the province dates back to the Elamite Empire (2700- 539 B.C.). According to the archaeological excavations in the mound of Sialk, Kashan city in Isfahan province was populated even before the Birth of Zoroaster (1500 B.C.). After the collapse of the Sassanid dynasty in 651 A.D., the Muslim Arabs invaded Isfahan, and years later, Mardavij, the founder of the Al-Ziyar (Ziyarid) dynasty (930-1090), seized and ruled over it. Isfahan was the capital of Al-Ziyar dynasty for a while until the Buyid dynasty (934-1062) took the throne. During the Seljuk Empire (1037-1194), Isfahan was mostly the capital of Iran but it fell into the hands of Mongols after their invasion to Iran in 1219. Isfahan flourished mostly during the Safavid period (1501-1736) and more especially during the reign of Shah Abbas I when the city was selected as the capital.

Isfahan province has many natural and historical attractions, especially from the Safavid period, attracting annually a large number of domestic and inbound tourists. The cities of Isfahan, Kashan, and Abyaneh are the most visited tourist destinations in the province.

Of its historical attractions registered as the UNESCO World Heritage sites include Naqsh-e Jahan square, Atiq Jame’ Mosque, Chehel Sotoun Garden, and Fin Garden. Besides, the Zayanderud River and its historical bridges are other attractions.

Golabgiri festival (extracting rose water) in Qamsar and Neasar and the carpet washing ritual in Mashhad Ardehal in Kashan are among the known cultural and religious attractions in the province.

Isfahan province has also long been considered one of the major centers of Iran’s fine artworks and handicrafts such that they are still produced there.

In December 2015, Isfahan was registered as the Creative City in UNESCO for its craft and folk art.

Carpet weaving, copper engraving, vitreous enamels, Khatam (similar to marquetry), tiling, turquoise dishes, printing on fabric (Kalamkari), Wood carving, and Silver making are the most prominent fine works in this province. The most famous eatable souvenirs of Isfahan are Gaz (a type of nougat) and Poolaki (a type of candy) made with various materials and in different shapes. Rosewater (Golab) of Qamsar and other herbal extracts are also among other souvenirs.

The most famous traditional cuisine of Isfahan is called Beryan that is a type of barbecued meat. Yogurt stew, Halim Shir (made with oat, wheat and milk cereal), Halim Bademjan (made with eggplant), Keledos, Ghaymeh Rizeh (meatballs), and Ash Shul Qalamkar (Hodge-Podge soup) are other native foods. The most prominent figures of this province include Sheikh Baha’i, Kamal al-Molk, Reza Abbasi, Jalil Shahnaz, and Sohrab Sepehri.

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